- Joined
- Jan 21, 2013
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I am a 23 year old woman who has spent most of my life (from age 13 to 22-ish) being a slave to makeup and finally woke up and realized that it is simply unnecessary and oppressive to women rather than "liberating".
Let me begin, I developed severe cystic acne from age eleven and onward that was wide spread all over my face and body which lead me to start wearing "full foundation" at an early age. I was made to feel as a lot of girls and women do that I "had" to wear makeup because I had acne and it was unacceptable for me to show my real skin without leaving the house without dermablend and a sh*t load of powder, concealer ect. on. This was a very time consuming stressful process for me, I had to get up at almost 5 A.M in the morning to put all my foundation on and do all my concealing before I went to school.
I felt as though I was obligated to do this somehow. In the back of my mind I knew it was some form of "societal oppression" for me to have to do this labour but was tricked into thinking that I was only improving myself and that makeup helped me feel confident. Wrong! - why is it that teenage boys are allowed to walk around with cystic mounds on their face and get zero criticism while girls with the same skin condition have to slap on the pancake makeup? modern day sexism is the answer. It's not the type of sexism to the extreme that exists in Saudi Arabia where women are mandated to wear niqabs and full body covering - but it certainly is a variant of it that. "Western style" female oppression is the word that comes to mind.
I later became addicted to makeup - there was a time I would spend all my money on every MAC collection realeased and started hording a masssive pile of makeup and wearing just as much. I tried to convince myself that makeup was an artform (especially eyeshadow) as the reason why I liked it so much. I thought it let my creativity shine through but if that was the case, why would the art only be confined to my face? why would I not be painting on a piece of paper or the wall if I was truly "artistic". This was motivated by insecurity rather than anything else I later uncovered.
Makeup is an addiction fed on insecurity - we keep buying and wearing because we get used to our "makeup face" and begin to think the way we look without out it on is inferior to the way we look in dolled up form. Which is mentally unhealthy when you think about it - we're rejecting our true appearance.
I had some pitted acne scars and hyperpigmentation left over from 12 years straight of cystic acne which lead me to believe that they'd never heal and that I'd always have to rely on makeup to get that "normal skin look" (I'm sure a lot of you feel the same). Wrong! I started exfoliating, oil cleansing with grapeseed oil and using retin-a gel in the last five months and I can say my acne scars (which where quite severe) have been eliminated and my skin is near porcelain. And my dermatologist thought the scars were permanent! Ha!
I've found a lot of the skin imperfections I thought could ONLY be covered with makeup could actually be fixed with skin care products. For instance my super dark circles that I used to conceal with studio finish on a daily basis have disappeared since I started using a vitamin K cream and bio oil under neath my eye area.
I think skin care is the best realm! rather than making up up a fake face. I no longer have to rely on makeup at all for this reason.. and I should have never had to before.
Please don't allow your self to be oppressed. Makeup is a mask that women shouldn't feel obligated to wear end of story.
Let me begin, I developed severe cystic acne from age eleven and onward that was wide spread all over my face and body which lead me to start wearing "full foundation" at an early age. I was made to feel as a lot of girls and women do that I "had" to wear makeup because I had acne and it was unacceptable for me to show my real skin without leaving the house without dermablend and a sh*t load of powder, concealer ect. on. This was a very time consuming stressful process for me, I had to get up at almost 5 A.M in the morning to put all my foundation on and do all my concealing before I went to school.
I felt as though I was obligated to do this somehow. In the back of my mind I knew it was some form of "societal oppression" for me to have to do this labour but was tricked into thinking that I was only improving myself and that makeup helped me feel confident. Wrong! - why is it that teenage boys are allowed to walk around with cystic mounds on their face and get zero criticism while girls with the same skin condition have to slap on the pancake makeup? modern day sexism is the answer. It's not the type of sexism to the extreme that exists in Saudi Arabia where women are mandated to wear niqabs and full body covering - but it certainly is a variant of it that. "Western style" female oppression is the word that comes to mind.
I later became addicted to makeup - there was a time I would spend all my money on every MAC collection realeased and started hording a masssive pile of makeup and wearing just as much. I tried to convince myself that makeup was an artform (especially eyeshadow) as the reason why I liked it so much. I thought it let my creativity shine through but if that was the case, why would the art only be confined to my face? why would I not be painting on a piece of paper or the wall if I was truly "artistic". This was motivated by insecurity rather than anything else I later uncovered.
Makeup is an addiction fed on insecurity - we keep buying and wearing because we get used to our "makeup face" and begin to think the way we look without out it on is inferior to the way we look in dolled up form. Which is mentally unhealthy when you think about it - we're rejecting our true appearance.
I had some pitted acne scars and hyperpigmentation left over from 12 years straight of cystic acne which lead me to believe that they'd never heal and that I'd always have to rely on makeup to get that "normal skin look" (I'm sure a lot of you feel the same). Wrong! I started exfoliating, oil cleansing with grapeseed oil and using retin-a gel in the last five months and I can say my acne scars (which where quite severe) have been eliminated and my skin is near porcelain. And my dermatologist thought the scars were permanent! Ha!
I've found a lot of the skin imperfections I thought could ONLY be covered with makeup could actually be fixed with skin care products. For instance my super dark circles that I used to conceal with studio finish on a daily basis have disappeared since I started using a vitamin K cream and bio oil under neath my eye area.
I think skin care is the best realm! rather than making up up a fake face. I no longer have to rely on makeup at all for this reason.. and I should have never had to before.
Please don't allow your self to be oppressed. Makeup is a mask that women shouldn't feel obligated to wear end of story.